Van Gisbergen’s ‘bittersweet’ end to season

Newly crowned Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen says it feels “bittersweet” to have had his chances of defending his Bathurst crown foiled by a puncture near the end of the race.

The Kiwi driver had closed to within two seconds of the eventual winner Chaz Mostert with seven laps remaining before the tyre problem struck and he eventually finished in 18th place with co-driver Garth Tander.

The Repco Bathurst 1000 was the final round of the 2021 Supercars championship, which van Gisbergen dominated with 14 wins, nine podiums, and six pole positions.

“It’s bittersweet you know, I was really trying to win that race,” van Gisbergen, pictured, says.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get the result we wanted today, but it is what it is. I was driving as fast as I could and probably pushed a bit too hard, and we ended up with a tyre failure late in the race.

“Other than that the year’s been awesome otherwise, I’ve got to thank all these legends [Red Bull Ampol Racing], it's been a really, really good year otherwise and we will be drinking a few out of this [the championship trophy] tonight.

“We raced tracks at the start of the year that suited our car, and that’s where we were able to get a few wins on the board and build momentum and grab a great lead at the start of the season. I can’t thank our team enough and it’s super awesome to be a part of it.”

Mostert and co-driver Lee Holdsworth took the win at Mount Panorama on December 5 and were followed by Cameron Waters and James Moffat in second place, with Brodie Kostecki and David Russell third.

Van Gisbergen’s  Red Bull Ampol Racing teammate Jamie Whincup finished fourth at Bathurst and heads into retirement as a full-time Supercars driver.

Drivers’ championship, final standings

1. Shane van Gisbergen, 2,930 points
2. Jamie Whincup, 2,719pts
3. Chaz Mostert, 2,494pts
4. Will Davison, 2,389pts
5. Cameron Waters, 2,369pts
6. Anton De Pasquale, 2,075pts
7. Nick Percat, 2,008pts
8. William Brown, 1,838pts
9. Brodie Kostecki, 1,788pts 
10. Mark Winterbottom, 1,725pts